PROLOGUE — THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP

"I'm not going to hurt you." — zara harkness

ZARA HARKNESS LEANT BACK IN HER CHAIR — CAREFUL NOT TO PUSH IT TOO FAR THAT IT WOULD SNAP LIKE A PIECE OF LIQUORICE — AS SHE TWIRLED A STRAND OF HER CHOCOLATE HAIR AROUND HER FINGER ABSENTMINDEDLY. Soft melodic hums fell from her lips as she stared at her screen, waiting patiently in case something popped up that needed her immediate attention. It had been a quiet week, well for Torchwood anyway, just the occasional weevil sighting, but it wasn't anything a bit of retcon couldn't fix.

Her father sat at his own desk on the other side of the Hub, his legs crossed over one another, resting on the cracked wooden surface. He was currently preoccupied with his Vortex Manipulator, tinkering with the wires like he usually did whenever he was bored out of his mind, which was quite often considering how much excitement needed to happen for him to be entertained.

Honestly, the younger Harkness saw no point in his relentless efforts to fix the device, he had been at it for decades but with no success. It had burnt out after he jumped away from Satellite Five, escaping the aftermath of the destruction the Daleks had caused two hundred thousand years into their future. He would've continued to travel with his old friends The Doctor, Astraea and Rose, but according to the impeccable memory of the time agent, they were nowhere to be found after he awoke alone and surrounded in Dalek dust. Zara knew it hurt him, the not knowing, not knowing why his supposed 'friends' had abandoned him to the Daleks to die.

When the Time Lord, Fallen Star and their human companion return, Zara knew she was going to give them a piece of her mind for having the nerve to leave her father behind, but she couldn't be too angry, because after all, if they hadn't, she wouldn't exist.

Zara just sighed after shaking herself from her thoughts, her gaze returning to the screen, watching as the alien flatline continued to stay that way.

The rest of the team was off duty doing whatever it was they did when they weren't saving the planet from the terrors the rift threw at them, and meanwhile the Harkness duo stayed behind to make sure everything hadn't turned to shit by the time they returned. Zara wouldn't be surprised if it did, after all, her and her father had a record of misfortune, so much so that it appeared that the Universe was out to get them. What had they done that offended all of space and time so much? Zara didn't know.

The brunette immediately stopped her humming the moment the thin line on her screen started to fluctuate. Whipping around to face the screen, Zara stared at it, wide eyed, before the alarms in the Hub started to echo a horrendous high pitched beep.

They really did have to change it at some point, it was starting to give her a headache.

At the irritating but effective sound, Jack looked up, his gaze meeting his daughter, wondering whether or not it was a real alert or she had just accidentally done something to set it off. It wouldn't have been the first time. But unfortunately for them, it was the former.

Still slightly startled from the sudden siren sound (try saying that whilst drunk), Zara quickly got to her feet. The youngish immortal practically jumped at the computer, her fingers darting over the keys in a rapid dance to figure out the source of the commotion. Jack fastened his vortex manipulator back onto wrist as he made his way over towards his daughter. He was just as puzzled as she was, the readings on the screens made no sense whatsoever.

A heavy, exasperated sigh fell from the younger Harkness' lips as she raised her hand to hit the side of the computer. Jack winced from behind her as her palm made contact with the plastic casing, the picture distorting slightly before returning to its previous state. "You have to stop hitting things when you're annoyed." Jack noted, placing a comforting hand on Zara's shoulder.

She immediately calmed at her father's touch.

"Well, it works for me." She grumbled, running a hand through her mousy hair, huffing as the remainder of the irritated feeling left. Eager to figure out what had just occurred, Zara returned to the screen, groaning when the readings had still not changed from their confusing state.

They kept changing, morphing, contorting, as if the rift was uneasy, as if it was unsure.

Then, all of a sudden, like a light bulb had gone off inside her head, Zara had an idea she was embarrassed she hadn't thought of sooner. She traced back the readings.

A soft smile made its way into Jack's face, his ocean blue eyes glinting with pride. "I knew you could do it." He told her as Zara turned back to return the smile.

Affectionately, Zara melted into her father, his arms instinctively wrapping themselves around her, pulling her close. The ex-time agent sighed contently at the feeling of his 'little' girl safely within his embrace, relishing in the father-daughter moment they were having because he knew that when the team came back, they would have to put back up their fake family façade. What the supposedly well trained 51st century man didn't notice was the sly hand slipping into the pocket of his navy blue military coat, removing the car keys that he kept hidden within.

Zara was the first to withdraw from the hug, quickly sliding the keys into her own pocket before snatching up her coat from the back of the chair. After pulling her jacket on, she turned to leave, her fingers tightly grasped around the key chain in her pocket.

In an attempt to gain her attention, Jack coughed, causing his daughter to swivel around to face him. Zara felt her heart race inside her chest, hoping that he hadn't realised the SUV keys missing from his large signature coat. "Give them back." He demanded calmly, his hand outstretched.

Crap, he did notice.

Play dumb. Play dumb. Play dumb. The two words echoed in her mind over and over again like a mantra as she gulped nervously, ever so slightly after of her immortal father. "Give what back?"

Jack rolled his eyes at her weak attempt, but the hint of an amused smile was still present on his lips. "You know what." The daughter groaned in annoyance, knowing that there was no point in trying to deny the obvious. She then removed the keys from her pocket before tossing them back at Jack who caught them with his awaiting hand. "I told you, you're not allowed to drive the SUV."

"But Dad." Zara whined like a child, tilting her head back to look up at the Hub roof. "I'm older than all the others here and you let them drive it."

Jack just laughed, his eyebrow arched. "Yeah, but none of them have a tendency to get things blow up."

Zara furrowed her eyebrows at her father as she crossed her jacket-clad arms in front of her body in a sort of defensive position. "Name one thing I've gotten blown up in the past, I don't know, month." She challenged, determined to prove that she was worthy enough for the keys to his precious SUV.

"For starters," Started Jack, his face neutral, his arms tightly crossed over his chest, his stance screaming with the of authority a parent held. "that art studio two weeks ago."

The brown eyed girl grumbled under her breath, avoiding her father's gaze. "Wasn't my fault." Welllll, that was partly true. She had been chasing a runaway weevil throughout the city until she had eventually managed to corner them (not 'it' because Weevils are people too despite their appearance) in the said art studio. Okay, so her gun may have accidentally gone off, which could've been seen as her fault, setting fire to the turpentine they had spilt on the way in. And BOOM! The studio was no more. But it wasn't her fault.

"The cage last week." Jack continued, his gaze never leaving Zara.

The 'young' woman in question scoffed and rolled her eyes at his accusation. "Well, they shouldn't've said it was indestructible then." It was true, the manufacturers of the cage had proudly proclaimed and praised how their precious box was unbreakable and Zara was eager to put it to the test. It failed miserably. "I was just doing them a favour."

At her words, the father rolled his own eyes before carrying on with his point. "I don't even know how you obliterated that strange artefact the other day."

Zara let out a soft snigger and then winked cheekily at the man who raised her. "A professional never reveals her secrets." If you want to know what happened and how the almost-sixty-year-old woman destroyed the absurd and seemingly adamantine alien device, then too bad, because she's not telling.

"A 'professional', huh?"

"Shit." Zara groaned at her own stupidity.

The ex-time agent simply laughed at his daughter's antics. Surprising himself and Zara, but mostly Zara, he tossed her back the keys she had tried to swipe just moments ago. Wide eyed, the Harkness girl stared down at them in disbelief before looking up at her father with confusion printed onto her face.

He raised his forefinger, pointing it at his daughter warningly. "If you get as much as a scratch on it-"

"I know, I'll be grounded for half a decade." Interrupted Zara with yet another quick roll of her soft brown eyes.

"Now go." Jack ushered her towards the exit, smiling as he did so. "Go and check out those readings before someone even worse happens."

Smirking, Zara asked in fake hurt, her eyebrow arched at her father. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

The ex-time agent laughed heartily, playfully shoving her out of the door. "Just go!"

THE NIGHT SKY WAS A POISONOUS DARK BLACK WITH THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF THE STARS RANDOMLY SCATTERED ABOUT AS IF SOMEONE HAD JUST CASUALLY THROWN THEM UP THERE. It was late but Zara could still see the occasional car driving past or pedestrian stumbling home from what must have been an eventful night. She loved Cardiff, no matter the time of day or year, but some part of her longed to travel through time and space like her father used to do decades before she was even born.

The brunette rhythmically drummed her fingers against the steering wheel of her father's precious SUV as 'Highway to Hell' blasted through the radio. With the loud beat guiding her, Zara bobbed her head along with the song, her lips parting to sync to the lyrics. Ever since she was a child, Zara had loved music, the harmonies and patterns captivating her young mind. It always brought back joyful memories of her and her father dancing when she was just a little girl, how he would spin her around and lift her into the air as if she were as light as a feather.

That was a long time ago, Zara reminded herself. It was when the father-daughter duo didn't have to be pretend to be something they weren't. Those were the good old days.

Continuing down the road, Zara's eyes widened when she almost missed the turn off and quickly jerked the wheel to the side. The SUV swerved to redirect down the side road, exactly where the map was telling her to go. She winced at the sound of the car exterior grazing the hedgerow that lined the entrance to the woods and cursed under her breath.

"Well that's goodbye to my next half decade." Grumbled Zara, but still hoping that a scratch hadn't been left on the flawless vehicle.

It was strange. After tracing back the readings to find the location of the source to the commotion, it had led her to the middle of dense woods not that far from the city. How the rift activity managed to reach that far out, she had no clue. Zara just knew that she was going to find out.

The SUV started to shake, pushing the immortal around in the plush leather seat, the belt around her body digging sharply into her chest. It went on for about another minute and a half until she had had enough of the incessant lurching ride and then pressed the heel of her sturdy combat boot down onto the break pedal. White knuckled, Zara grasped the wheel in front of her to steady herself as the car came to a sudden halt.

After removing a torch from the glove compartment and unclasping her seat belt, Zara exited the SUV, her boots easily snapping the dry leaves and twigs that blanketed the earth. Light from the torch pierced the veil of ominous darkness, cutting a path through the shadow infested woods. Cautiously, the Harkness girl advanced. She had one hand tightly wrapped around the cold metal handle, the other grasped at the edges of the map.

It was hard not to make a sound with all the forest debris scattered along the ground, but Zara crept as quietly as she could, her torch now lowered to the earth directly in front of her, not wanting to alert anyone to her presence. She checked her map. Not much further until the source of the rift's unease.

Howling as it went, the wind rushed past, biting her face and sending strands of her dark brown hair flying into her eyes, obscuring her vision. Zara quickly placed the hair behind her ear, but the wind continued on, untucking the hair once again and masking the sound of distant cries. The Immortal squinted in irritation at her hair before eventually giving up and allowing it do as it willed.

Wait a minute, let's back track, 'cries'?

Whipping her head around in the direction of the sobs so fast she was surprised she didn't get whiplash, Zara immediately stuffed the map unceremoniously into her pocket before taking off, following the upsetting sounds of despair. The closer she got the louder they became and the more her heart clenched at the pain the person must have been going through.

"Hello." Zara called out, her voice carrying throughout the quiet forest. But the crying person must've heard because they suddenly stopped their heart-breaking sobs and went silent. "Are you alright?"

There was no answer.

"What are you doing this far out?" Curiously inquired the immortal as she scanned her surroundings with the torchlight.

Yet again, there was no answer.

Zara suddenly stopped when the light rested upon a large bush where a figure was visible behind the full branches. She was to make sure that her gun was neatly tucked away so there was no chance it would scare the individual before she took another step closer. Leaves crunched and twigs snapped as the figure made an attempt to move after realising they had been seen. Zara halted.

"I'm not going to hurt you." She assured them, her voice soft and gentle, the kind she used with victims and children.

Surprisingly, they replied. "You will." They sniffled.

Tilting her head to the side, Zara questioned, slightly confused. "Why's that?"

"Because I'm a monster." They sobbed, their breathing sounding heavy from where Zara stood. She knew they were panicking but there was nothing she could do, any attempt to move closer would probably cause them to bolt.

Sadly, the Immortal sighed. In her life she had met a lot of monsters, a lot of freaks, and not all of them were alien. "No, you're not." She denied with a defiant shake of her head.

"I am!"

"Trust me." Zara told them, her words heavy and sombre. Unbeknownst to her, the individual froze at the tone, feeling the emotion in those words shake them to their very core. "I've met monsters, and monsters don't cry. Monsters are cruel, unforgiving and merciless. Most don't think that they are one and the ones that do laugh at it. No sort physical disfigurement makes you a monster, it's the darkness in your heart and soul that does. So, no, I don't think you're a monster."

Another heavy sob could be heard as Zara finished her small speech, the words greatly affecting them.

Slowly, Zara took a step forwards and asked softly. "What happened? Why do you think you're a monster?"

There was a brief moment of silence when no sort of sound could be heard throughout the empty forest. No more howling of the wind, no more snapping of twigs and leaves and shockingly, no more crying. "I touched the light." They replied and Zara's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "I saw this light in the air, it was beautiful." They said dreamily before their tone turned dark. "But then I touched it and it changed me, it made me a monster."

Oh.

Jaw dropping slightly, Zara realised the truth behind the words and she felt sympathy rise up inside of her. But it didn't make sense. What she believed happened shouldn't've. There was no way the person had survived touching it without being sucked in, no way. And plus, since when did it change people? "The rift." She corrected with a sad shake of her head. "The light was the rift."

"The rift?" Queried the individual, not knowing what it meant, their breathing thankfully seeming to return to normal.

"Running through Cardiff, there's this rift, a sort of scar in time and space." Explained Zara with yet another shake of her head. "It's complicated." That's putting it lightly. "The rift leaks time energy and sometimes it can become a doorway."

No answer came, no comment. They seemed to be taking it in, believing the strange words belonging to the ex-time agent's daughter. What had happened to them that they would such a bizarre — but true — explanation? Zara wasn't sure if she wanted to know. But she did manage to figure out that the weird readings had been coming from the person in front of her, that they were the reason behind the rift going haywire.

A frown appeared on the immortal's face as she thought about what must've happened, it didn't make sense... until it did.

Sighing, she said. "But the rift doesn't change people. What happened to you? I won't hurt you, I promise." Reassured Zara again.

Still tucked away inside the currently safety of the bush, the frightened individual considered the stranger's words. They knew that if there was anyone out there who had a chance at figuring out what had happened, it would be this person, someone she had only just met but for some reason trusted.

Zara didn't know what she was expecting when the figure started to make their way out of the bush. Maybe some freaky scars from touching the rift. Maybe eyes that blazed like the dying embers of a winter fire. Or maybe even bright green hair. But it was certainly not a pair of baby pink wings that had somehow sprouted from their back.

Slowly and cautiously, as if they were walking on the fragile surface of a frozen lake, they stepped into Zara's torchlight. She stared at what appeared to be a young woman (yes, 'appeared' because we're not assuming genders, thank you very much), their dark hair was cut into a bob, sculpting their well defined jaw. Tears that had stained their cheeks shone in the light, making it incredibly visible that they had been crying. But Zara couldn't help but admit that they were beautiful.

An involuntary gasp left her lips at the sight of the stunning pink translucent wings on their back that were decorated with complex and intricate lines. They jumped back at her reaction, startled.

"It's okay. Everything's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Zara was quick to reassure them.

The Immortal's eyes widened as realisation about the source of the wings dawned on her. It made sense, didn't it?

Running a jittery hand through her hair in anticipation, Zara then glanced between the winged individual and the floor and mumbled. "Space faerie."

"What?"

Her sigh was heavy, full of sympathy, full of sadness for what she was about to say. She knew her following words were going to bring their life crashing down upon them. "The rift doesn't change people," she grimaced as some previous rift victims came to mind, "well, not like this anyway." Their face contorted into a mixture of confusion and fear and Zara took another step forwards in an attempt to try and comfort them. "The only way the rift could've given you wings is if you had them before."

Another sob tore through their body, their entire body shaking at what she was saying.

"Some part of your DNA," Zara continued solemnly, shaking her head, "was already different, the rift just brought it out."

Tears started to spill from their eyes once again, their face now buried deeply in their palms. "I was always a monster."

Shaking her head in denial, Zara swiftly jumped in and began refuting. "No, no, no, no, no. You're not a monster, you're just different. Being different doesn't make you a monster." She felt her heart clench at her own words as she thought how they were relevant to her own situation. She wasn't a monster, was she?

"What am I?!" They demanded but their voice was muffled and distorted by their blubbering.

Zara just smiled kindly, stepping close enough to place a gentle and comforting hand on their shoulder. At first, they stiffened at the sudden contact but soon relaxed into it. "You're a space faerie and there's nothing wrong with that." Pausing, she shook her head of the whirlwind of thoughts in her mind. "Well, I say 'Space Faerie', but there is a proper name for them, I just use it to tell the difference between the terrestrial and extraterrestrial ones."

Then they laughed.

It was a happy, joyful laugh, unburdened by their troubles, it was light and free; and it made Zara smile. To see the previously broken and frightened youth with a grin on their face brought light to the dark atmosphere. It made everything feel like it was going to be alright.

Zara, careful not to remove her hand from their shoulder, started leading them towards the SUV. Okay, maybe that does sound a bit creepy: a stranger taking a young person to her car. But both of them knew it wasn't like that.

Zara saw parts of herself reflected in them, the times that she had felt the lowest about her immortality, when she believed she was a monster. Luckily, she had her father to help her through those dark times, but the person beside her didn't. Well, not to her knowledge anyway. So, she was going to make sure that they weren't alone, that they had someone to turn to, someone to help in times of need, because that was the right thing to do.

The Immortal smiled, her eyes flickering down to the mop of black hair beside her. "I'm Zara Harkness, what's your name?" She asked. Startled, they looked up at Zara. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Josie." They answered with a small grin gracing their lips. "Josie Knight."

Zara removed her hand from their shoulder and offered it to them to shake. "It's nice to meet you." Josie hesitatingly took Zara's hand and shook it which caused the immortal's smile to widen.

After dropping their hands, Zara peeled her jacket off of her body, hanging it over Josie's shoulders. Instinctively, the wings folded back into their back as if they weren't even there. Josie hugged the coat closer around her body, feeling the warmth radiate through her, and she looked up at Zara, smiling at her gratefully.

Zara sighed contently. She had discovered the reason behind the rift's uneasiness, helped a terrified young person and gave them hope for a better future. It had truly been a good day indeed.

Together Josie and Zara kept on walking towards the parked SUV, neither of them knowing that that moment was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Hi there and welcome to the prologue of Like Father, Like Daughter. This took me longer to write than I anticipated because I was writing a little bit at a time instead of all at once. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Ok, throughout this chapter I used they/them pronouns when referencing to Josie, this is because Zara did not know Josie's pronouns and didn't want to assume nor misgender. In reality (well, in this fanfic), Josie goes by she/they and is perfectly comfortable with both.

Literally me when writing this though: this is shit, but it's decent shit.

So, what are you first impressions of Zara and this story? I would love to know what your early thoughts are.

Also, on another note, I made some memes.

And here is another, this one's for Josie and Zara's friendship. Basically, this is them.

Another thing about Josie, I love her and all but she's not going to get her own book because their storyline is quite similar to Zara's. I will be writing some extra scenes which are just Josie, but that's it.

Hopefully I'll see you in the next chapter.

Sincerely, Rosie aka Winter326